


Keeper of Stone

by Cupcakemolotov



Series: come alive [50]
Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Magic, But that is the Path They Are On, F/M, Maiming, Not Quite Enemies to Lovers, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-29 03:17:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17800070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cupcakemolotov/pseuds/Cupcakemolotov
Summary: Last night, Mason has given her a warning. In the dawn light, Klaus made his promise.





	Keeper of Stone

**Author's Note:**

  * For [melsbels](https://archiveofourown.org/users/melsbels/gifts).



> Written for @goldcaught. I deleted your ask, sorry! It was something along the lines of “AU Mafia. Do what you will.” Well, my muse did what it wanted.

Caroline sighed in relief as she closed door to shop, cutting off the blustery winter wind. The weather mages were predicting a frigid December and Chicago was already knee deep in snow. But here, at least, she was safe from the worst of the elements. Blowing out a slow breath, she moved to the cold fireplace and set about carefully building a fire.

Usually the task didn’t take long, the spell treated logs easy to light. But this morning, she was being forced to work one handed. Mason Lockwood’s men had cornered her on her walk home to make a point. The bruising on her wrist was better today, the worst of the swelling having eased thanks to Bonnie’s excellent care. She still wore their fingerprints as a visible reminder that powder keg that was Chicago was going to blow sooner or later.

Sooner if some parties had their way.

She’d managed to stay relatively under the radar, but her time was clearly running out. She’d need to pick a side soon. She was also certain she’d made her decision years ago. Carefully balancing the box of matches on her thigh with her right hand, Caroline cursed when her door opened, the sudden gust of wind putting out the tentative flame. Twisting, she froze at the man who stood in the pre-dawn morning, eyes glimmering hotly with sparks of magic and wolf. 

Klaus. The reason she was in this mess and why she couldn’t give Mason what he wanted. He looked warm in his thick jacket and sweater, the coat designed to hide any spells or weapons he hid on his person though she knew he preferred to kill with his bare hands.

Hands she thought of far too often. Scowling, she jerked her chin towards the room. “Shut the door. You’re letting in the cold.”

He stepped inside, the door banging shut loudly in the silence. His jaw tightened beneath the scruff of his beard, lips drawn thin. His gaze roamed her with more familiarity than she should allow, but she was tired and stiff. And for all her blustering, Klaus brought a strange sort of safety with him. He always had. A wolf brought to heel by choice.

She just didn’t know when he’d bite.

“You shouldn’t be here.”

Klaus ignored her words and strode forward, dropping gracefully next to her to catch her wrist with careful fingers. She tensed, but his touch was feather light. The shimmer of anger in his eyes grew, and she fisted her good hand. His touch had always felt too good, his hands always open for her own. She’d known he was trouble when he’d shown up in her shop two years before with those dimples and his clever tongue.

And magic. So much magic. Caroline could shape it, twist it into wards as unbreakable and flexible as spider silk but she couldn’t _make_ magic. She could only take what she was given the way a blacksmith heated iron and forged a weapon, gave their vision shape.

Klaus could do so much more.

He’d come to Chicago looking for a throne, and what he’d found was the darkness of a city drowning in sin. She thought it’d suited him, the man he’d become. Both werewolf and witch, with a handful of witch siblings, and he’d slowly turned Mason Lockwood’s city on its ear.

“You pay your protection fee,” Klaus said quietly, voice a rasp. “I watch his men collect it.”

She forced herself to extract herself from his hold. Klaus has always been an inexplicable draw and now worn to bone, she wanted to linger. “It was a warning. One I could have stopped them from giving.”

Her reminder was cool, and his mouth tightened. Letting Mason know the full extent of her abilities, letting anyone know them, was dangerous. A ward maker with her skills was highly prized. Klaus, she thought, knew more than most but he had never once pressured her into using her skills to help him build his empire.

But it was clear that someone had noticed Klaus continued presence here or perhaps had they had picked up on how his men rotated through the neighborhood. It was likely that someone had been offered coin about Caroline’s visitors. But regardless, Mason’s eyes were now firmly planted on her doorstep and that was a problem.

Klaus’ head finally tilted in agreement. “I do not doubt your ability to halt such a thing. But you should not have had to. So I too, have sent along a message.”

Caroline straightened in alarm. “Klaus you _cannot_ …”

Her words died as the wolf bleed into his eyes. “I can do as I wish, Caroline. This quarter of the city belongs to me, now. Soon, so will the rest of the city. The hands of those who touched you were boxed up and tied with a pretty ribbon, and were the message sent to make that clear.”

Her throat ran dry. “You’ll start a war.”

His dimples cut deep. “Oh, I hope so.”

“People will die!”

“People are already dying, love. Mason’s grip is too tight, too desperate. He pulls strongly on this city and the magic is taking a terrible price. There are cracks not even your magic can shore. How long until only blood can fill what Mason takes?”

She swallowed. “Will you be better?”

It was the question that kept her up at night. Did this man who drew her so utterly have the same rotten core as Mason Lockwood? She wanted to believe he didn’t. But she’d been wrong before.

Klaus leaned close, eyes glittering. “I am not so careless with what is mine, to crush it beneath my boot. I do not need this city’s magic to rule. Mason is weak. He will fall. It is only a matter of time before this city will be mine in all the ways that matter.”

Caroline didn’t flinch at his words. The arrogance and promised violence. Their world was a cold, bloody one. And Mason’s death would leave a vacuum that needed to be filled. She had no doubt that Klaus would step into it, bloody and victorious, ravenous. His wolf and magic demanded it from him. “And what will your price be?”

What would he ask of them to ensure the peace was kept? Mason demanded magic and coin. He took the price no matter the cost.

Reaching back out, Klaus carefully brushed his thumb down the line of bruises on her wrist, the sudden burn of magic as brilliant as the spark as her fire came to life. Those flames caught his eyes, turned them molten. Her bruises faded, stiffness eased. Caroline jerked back, eyes wide.

She had not known he could heal.

“From you?” He stood and shook his head, a lone curl tumbling across his forehead that he pushed back impatiently. “Nothing.”

She scrambled to her feet. “People will talk.”

His teeth flashed. “Good. What I want from you cannot have a price, and we both know that I will accept nothing less.”

“I am not a prize, Klaus.”

He laughed and spun towards the door. Outside, snow fell in soft snowflakes, the glimmers of dawn bright against the horizon. “You’re mine, love. You have been since if first saw you defiant and proud. We’ve both known it. I’d never make it through this door otherwise.”

Caroline stared at the door as it shut behind him, the fire warm on her skin. It galled her, that he was right. She just wasn’t sure what she would do about it.


End file.
